Horsehair spinning and curling machine



April 23, 1929. H. ZIMMERMANN 1,710,600

HORSEHAIR SPINNING AND CURLING IAGHNB Filed Aug. a; 1921 JNVENTOR Lil)Patented Apr. 23, 1929.

UNITED STATES HEINRICH ZIMMERMANN, OF KITZINGEN-0N-THEMIN, GERMANY.

HOBSEHAIR SPINNING AND CURLIN'G MACHINE.

Application ined August 1927, serial no.

Horsehair is treated for upholstery purposes by spinning the same to acylindrical thread, 8 to l5 mm. thick, this thread heilig twisted toform a strand in which the threadwindings are close together' in helicalline. This curled thread is steamed and dried and untwisted andunraveled. Horsehair is not often used alone owinr to its high price butgenerally admired with cheap elastic hair as hogs bristles or togetherwith `even cheaper vegetable-libres as fibre, or cocoa-nut libre. Theseadmixtures reduce considerably the price of the upholstery-material butthey give to the material, which is never quite homogeneonsly mixable,at different points quite different properties. Owing to this disparityof properties at different points, the material could up to the presentnever be spun to a thread and twisted to a curl 1n a purely mechanicalmanner. A commonly used machine, in which the pulling of the materialinto the spinning head, the pulling of the spun thread through theguide-roller of the spinning head and the twisting and windingmp et thecurl have to be eected exclusively by the driving mechanism of thewinding-up drum makes it necessary, that the material has to be i'ed tothe machine by a skilled ropeanaker to whom high wages have `to be paidund who must retain the material in excess and smooth with the list thepulled in material during the twisting. The spinning head of the machineplays only the part of the rotating rope-hook onto which, at the sinning on the rope-walk, the e *e of the bund e of material is hooked. Te rope maker may remain sitting in front of the hollow shaftof thespinning head during `the guiding and smoothing with the list instead ofwalking backwards from the rotating hook as on the rope-walk, but thisadvantage does not reduce the wages, as the rcpemaker has to be paid.

By this invention a machine has been created which spins and curls incontinuous operations any kind of horsehair mixtures without subsequentsupplyingof the same by hand, and which produces at high efficiency' aperfect curl. This result is substantially due to three `new mechanisms.The rst mechanism serves to adjust the horse-hair and fibres parallel toone another prior to the twisting, to stretch the same and to push thesame together from an originally wide hairbnd to a small one. Thesecondmechanism 211,M3, and tn Germany August 14, 1926.

serves for pulling the spun thread, independently of the pull exerted bythe curl, automatically through the spinning head and to maintain itstretched. The third mechanism serves to twist the curl, to Wind thesame up and to maintain the same just Sulliciently stretched. y y

A machine fitted with these three mecha nislns is shown, by way ofexample, in `the accompanying drawings.

Fig. l shows the whole machine in longitudinal section.

Fig. 2 shows on larger scale in longitudinal section a portion ol. themechanism for stretching and adjusting the hair, and the spinning headwith theantoniatic thread pullingl device.

Fig. 3 shows the stretching and adjusting mechanism in top plan view andthe spinning head mechanism 1n a longitudinal section at right angles tothat shown 1n Fig. 2.

Fig. el is a cross section on line fle-4 of Fig.

3 viewed from the right end.

Fig. 5 shows in longitudinal section the mechanism for twisting andwinding up the curled thread.

Referring to the drawingse is `the endless renvoyer-band, b thepin-druln, c the pincover and d the endless deliveringband of a hacklingmachine of known type. The delivering band (l `is continued by a frame,not shown, in which for instance five pairs of cylinders l to 5 aremounted in a row, the cylinder-pairs being driven by chain-drives, notshown, each `following pair at higher speed than the preceding pair. Thetwo cylinders of each pair are driven by pairs of spur-wheels not shownin the drawing, so t iat they rotate in opposite directions, in thedirections ot' the arrow-lines j' in Fig. 2,the cylinders ot' eachfollowing pair having `the tendency to pull thestrand g of bundles ofhair from the preceding pair of cylinders and to feed the same to thenext following pair of cylinders. As shown in Fig. Q, at the pair ofcylinders 3, these cylinders are tinted in axial `andcircumferentialdirections, so that the teeth It thus formed, grip strongly into thestrand g, although this strand can pass between the teeth. In theintervals between the pairs of cylinders the strand g is guided ontahle-plates i, the side-walls lc of which converge funnel-shaped 1nforward-d1rec tion. the converging beroinlng .narrower from table totable. By the co-operation of all the pairs ol cylinders and of theconverging guide-walls It' of the table-plates the bundles of hair,which come from the haclihng inaehine still iindiilated and entangled,are adjusted in niany stages, parallel to one another, stretched instraight lines and pushed together to forni a narrow strand. lVnen thestrand oi hair passes between the Cylinders of the lirst pair it lorinstance 40 eins. wide, while it is only 4 eins. wide when arriyingbetween the cylinders .i of the last pair.

This adjusting, stretchingl and pushing, to-

gether of the hair, prior to the spinning, :is extremely important forobtaining a thread as uniformly thick and smooth as possible and havingras few ends of hair and fibre as possible sticking out t'roin thethread.

The haii-strand coming from the last pair o'l cylinders 5 :is thenpulled into a stationary clamping' and smoothing block fia which servesas a substitute for the list and for the hand of the rope-nniker whichlieeds the saine on as in rope-1naking by hand. On the topitaee of theclampinn bleek tilting wedges p with counter-weights 0 are hingedlymounted at u, said `wedges liorming;7 together with the bottoni q of avertical elan1] iing-block-groove 7', an introducing funnel s, scontinued by a roundingl channel for the narrow haii-strand. Onto thestring of hair pulled together in the roundingr channel the wedges y)are pressed 'in such a manner that the strand can he spun back only tothe point which is most strongly clamped, the strand beingr smoothed atthe pullingn through.

The pulling` forward olli the strand ol hair under the clamping wedgesl) and the similitaneous spinniin; oil' the same to a thread areeli'eeted by means ol a spinningl head a; mounted in linown manner on ahollow drifw ing shaft fw which is adapted to be rotated at diilerentspeeds by driving wheels u, QJ. of dill'erent diameters. flhreudrollers(i. 'i7 l having' wedge-shapei'l grooves, are mounted between the armsi/ of said spinning' head. The thread if, when coming :from the shaftQu,

cornes into iontact with the lirst threadioller.

and moves in serpentine-windings over the second and third rollers, thethird threadroller heine' driven, lor iin'tance. ifroin s sta-- tionarytoothed crown 9 by means of a planetivheel l0 and of a bevel-wheeLdrivell, l2. The nianner :in which this third thread-guide is driven issecondary, the main condition is that this roller has a Wedge-groovewhieli clamps the thread and pulls the same, the thinner portions oi'the thread beingA elanipeifl in the wedge-shaped groove quite asseeinfely as the thicker portions, the thread being neither flattenednor roiighened.

Between the arnis e/ ot the spinning head a guide-cross for the threadis mounted in front of the pulling roller 8, said Cross eonsisting of apulling cylinder 1.6, driven troni the shailt 13 of the pulling rollerthrough the intermediary oit spur-wheel `gears il, 1.3, the threadbeingn wound completely around said cylinder 16 in order to preventpropagat ingr of the curling' in rearward dir ction, and ollatransveifse-tuhe l? loosely rotatable and arranged directly behind thecylinder lli. This i'ransv se-tiibe serves'to separate the thread-sidei' liich is running up on the pulling cylinder 'from the thread-sidecoming l' oni this cylinder eo that these thread-sides ugh-d The cyl lerli' partieii' 'u'iuir {ni'wzzrd ol" the thread, its main object being7hoi'i'e'verT to prevent the eurl l` from jinnpinir hack behind it andilurther the transmission oi' the pull of the enrl oit the three d` asthereby the rciiular spinw niiiigT oi the thread would he impeded.

The pull exerted upon the thread mus( neier become .so strong;l as thaton the curl, In order to twist the thread un'i'ler the required pull toMliorin a curl the following nieeininiiani is provided. The hollowshatt- 18 (Fi 5) can he rotated by two kinds of drive inn; wheels l)Til) at dil'liuient speeds, but in more rapidly than the spinning head A,euri' crank 2l rotates with the shaft lrl and `urns the eurl which isguided hy means olf guide-pulleys 22, 23, around awindiing; drinn,arranged in alinenieat with liie nnichine-axis. The rotation oi? thisdrum is hrahed, lfoi instance, by a lninddiralie 225, l The brake-disk25, upon hit). which the hand 2i; actsj is l-:eyed on a lsha tt El? onwhich a whidingnup drinn Q9 is shiftably nioiin ted l )y means o t heyand groove Q8. The resistance, which the drinn 2) opposes to the ein-hcan be regulated by adjusting the brahe 25y 2li. liilhen the biahedruniretards with regard to the CurLerank, the curl is wound up on the drinn.The pull to be exerted onv the ciirl, and which adapted to be adiustedly the brake, depends on the thieluiess oi" the curl actually producedand on the eonipositiou of the material oil harder and softer hair and.libres. ln any case it easy to obtain a curl which i s twisted neithertoo little or too much, i. e neither too soft or too hard and which,after having been steamed and dried, can be easily untwisted andiinraveled.

lt is obvious that for the feeding of the working material it hasinerely to he laid upon and spread onto the endless conveying band ci.This work can be done by an ordinary wink-wannau, no rope-makers being'required for guiding' and smoothing the niaterial. The improved machinesupplies a curl which is more uniform and smoother than those inade byhand with the aid of a curling tube, i. e. a curl in which all hair orlibres oil 'whatever length, thickness, hardness and elasticity areperfectly twisted in. The curl produced on the improved machine isfurther easier to untwist and to unravel than the curls made on thecommonly used lll) machines as the hair and fibres of the same are notfelted the one into the other. The advantage of the easier untwistingand unravelling is greatlyappreciated by the upholsterers who have tocarry out this work. An upholstery material consisting of hair andi'ibres, undulated only along helical lines, is obtained.

The improved machine presents for the manuinzturers of the curl, besidesthe saving oit a ropeanaker, the advantage that there occur almost neverinterruptions of service, so that one engineer can attend to a whole rowof machines, the only work he has to do being to interchange fullwinding drums against empty ones.

I claim:-

l. A horsehair spinning and curling machine mounted in alinement with ahachling machine of known type. comprising in coinbination a row ofcylindei'paii's arranged close behind each other, cach followingr pairdriven at a higher speed than the prece( ing pair, said cylinders beingtinted in axial and circumferential directions, stationary planeguide-table-plates adapted to straddle the intervals between the severalpairs of cylinders with their lower edges bearing against the lowercylinders, side-walls on said table-` plates converging almost`continuously in the direction ot movement of the strand and havingrounded edges near the upper cylinder. and a clamping block Yfollowingdirect-ly ou the ext-renie pair ot cylinders and the corners oi the endsrounded at the upper and lower edges facing the last pair of cylindersbeing close to the upper and lower cylinders and to which a small hairband is supplied which composed of hair and fibres adjusted parallel toone anothe' and stretched gradually in several stages.

2. In a horsehair spinning and curling machine as specified in claim lthe clamping blockv having a vertical clamping groove extending over itsentire length, tiltalbe Wedges iu said clamping groove and hingedlymounted on the top-face of said clamping block said grooves and clampingblocks forming together an introducing funnel and a rounding channel forthe horsehair and libres, and counter-weights on said tiltable wedges sothat said wedges press onto the strand of hair to prevent unspinning ofthe same beyond the point which is submitted to the strongest clampingaction and for smoothing said strand when the same is being pulledthrou'h.

3. horsehair spinning and curling machine as specified in claim-1, comrising in combination with the clamping block and clamping wedges, ahollow driving shaft, driving wheels of dilerent diameters on said shaftfor rotating the same at different speeds, a spinning head keyed on saiddriving shaft and having arms7 thread-guide-rollers between said arms ofsaid spinning head and having each a Wedge-shaped circumferential groovethe first guide-roller receivin the thread coming from said hollow shathe second and third guide rollers guiding the thread in serpentinelines, and a driving mechanism for driving said third guide-roller andconsisting of a stationary toothed crown, a planet-wheel rolling on saidtoothed crown and a pair of bevel-wheels the one rotated from saidplanet-wheel and the other rotating the axle ofsaid third guide-roller.

4. In a horsehair spinning and guiding machine as specified in claim 1,in combination with a spinning head and three guiderollers in the same,a guide-cross for the thread mounted in said spinning head in front ofsaid third guide-roller and consisting of a pulling cylinder, aspur-whee1-gear for rotating said pulling cylinder from the axle of saidthird thread-guide roller, and a loosely rotatable transverse-tubebehind said pullin cylinder and designed to keep the thread-sig whichruiming up on said pulling cylinder spaced from the thread side which isrunning oii said ulling cylinder to prevent entangliiig of t ietwo-thread sides.

5. In a horsehair spinning and curling machine as specified in claim 1,in combination with a pulling cylinder and with a spinning head, acurling crank, a hollow driving shaft on which said curlin crank ismounted, means for rotating said hollow shaft more rapidly than saidspinning head, guidepulleys for the curl-string, a shaftin alinementwith the axis of the machine, a bandbrake on said shaft, and a windingup drum shiftably mounted b key and groove on said shaft and aroundwhichthe curl strand is wound by said curl-crank the s ed at which saidcurled strand is pulled orward being regulated by said band-brake.

In testimony whereoflI aix my signature. p

HEINRICH ZIMMERMANN.

